Man gets over 9 years’ jail, 12 strokes of cane for raping two 13-year-old girls
Claudia Tan
The Straits Times
July 15, 2026
While chatting with a 13-year-old girl online, a 20-year-old man lied that he was 18 and asked her to be his girlfriend.
He later had sex with her at a staircase landing near her home.
While under investigation for the offence, he met another 13-year-old girl and had sex with her when her grandmother was sleeping in the same room.
The man, now 22, was sentenced to nine years and seven months’ jail, and 12 strokes of the cane, and fined $3,000. He pleaded guilty to two charges of statutory rape and one charge for a scam-related offence.
Another 14 charges for offences such as harassment, trespass and scams were considered for sentencing.
The man cannot be named due to a court-imposed gag order to protect the identities of the victims.
The court heard that the man responded to the first victim’s Instagram Story in November 2023, and began chatting with her on the platform.
During their conversation, he asked how old she was, and she said she was 13. The man, who was then 20, told her that he was 18. He later revealed his real age to her.
While chatting on Instagram in December 2023, he asked the victim to be his girlfriend and she agreed.
They met for the first time at Jurong Point on Dec 4, 2023, and continued to chat thereafter. They also exchanged nude photographs of themselves on multiple occasions.
On Dec 14, 2023, they met for breakfast near Jurong Point at about 9am. After the meal, the man offered to send the girl home.
At around 10am, they took a bus from Jurong Point to the girl’s residence. During the trip, they began kissing each other.
When they arrived at the girl’s block, they went to a staircase landing and continued to kiss each other. The man asked the girl if she wanted to have sex, and she agreed.
The pair then engaged in various sex acts.
On Dec 19, 2023, the man told the girl he wanted to break up as he was too busy with work.
A few days later, he sent her threatening messages as he thought she had gossiped about him to other girls.
Afraid that he would go to her home, the girl made a police report on Dec 28, 2023.
While he was under investigation, the man met another 13-year-old girl in March 2024 at a gathering.
He told the second victim that he was 17 years old, and they exchanged phone numbers. They communicated through WhatsApp daily, and met on several occasions.
On April 23, 2024, the man asked if he could stay over at the girl’s home, claiming that he did not have a house to go to.
That evening, they returned to her home and she went to sleep in one of the rooms, where her grandmother was on another bed.
While the girl was sleeping, the man entered the room, laid down beside her, and woke her up. She realised that the man had placed a blanket over them.
He then had sex with her, but stopped after a minute as he felt guilty, court documents stated.
Both of them slept on the same bed that night.
The next day, the girl told the man that she liked him, and he asked her to be his girlfriend. He also stayed over at her home the next day.
On April 25, 2024, the girl found out that he had lied to her about his age and broke up with him.
Her mother made a police report on May 29, 2024.
Scam-related offences
The man was also involved in scam-related offences.
In September 2023, he wanted to buy in-game character skins for Mobile Legends, an online game. He asked an unknown person in a game-related Telegram group if he could borrow $2,000 worth of in-game credits.
The person lent him the credits and asked him to pay back in two weeks.
As he was unable to repay what he owed, the person asked him to open three bank accounts and hand over the log-in details, which he agreed to.
Around Sept 28, 2023, the unknown person asked the man to withdraw $44,000 in cash from one of the bank accounts.
He met two unidentified runners near a bank outlet, and entered the bank alone to withdraw the money.
At the counter, the bank staff told him that he could not withdraw the money as the account had been frozen.
Several days later, the man got into a disagreement with his father and was not allowed to return home.
In need of cash, he sought out another person on Telegram, identified in court documents as “Torres”, and asked for a loan.
The man met Torres at Waterway Point and received $1,000 in cash. He was told that if he was unable to return the money, he would have to give his bank account details to Torres.
In October, the man surrendered details of two bank accounts to Torres.
More than $130,000 was transferred into his first bank account between Sept 23 and Sept 28, 2023.
Of the sum, about $44,000 was traced to a scam victim, who lodged a police report after being duped of more than $680,000 through a public official impersonation scam.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh sought a jail term of nine years and seven months, 16 strokes of the cane, and a fine of $3,000 for the man.
The prosecutor highlighted that the two victims were vulnerable due to their young age.
The man did not use a condom on both occasions, thereby exposing his victims to sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy.
For sexually penetrating a minor, an offender can be jailed for up to 20 years, fined, and caned.
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